All Access Magazine first found out about ZänKoma when this local quartet warmed up the stage at The Whisky for veteran glamsters L.A. Guns on January 17. A few days later, all four fellows in the band met for a friendly chat with All Access Magazine, to talk about themselves, their roots, and their music.
All Access Magazine: Here we are with an international crew of musicians who call themselves “ZänKoma.” We see that you guys have a slogan, so let’s tell our readers about it: “Rock and Roll by Volume.” Who came up with that motto?
Adam: Actually, it wasn’t any of us. It was our first drummer’s brother who thought it up.
AAM: So let's find out more about all you world-class musicians, and see if we have the lineup straight. Guitarist Adam Balogh, you're Hungarian by way of Germany, right?
Adam: That's right, and I've been here for a decade, about ten years.
AAM: And Cristian Sturba, you’re the bass player from Argentina, ¿correcto?
Cristian: ¡Sí!
AAM: And you've been here about how long?
Cristian: Eight years.
AAM: And on drums we have Skeeter – it’s Skeeter Joplin, right? Like Janis Joplin?
Skeeter: Yeah, she’s my long-lost aunt, ha-ha!
AAM: So you’re the only local guy in the band, right?
Skeeter: Yeah, I was born here in L.A., and I grew up in Portland.
AAM: So that makes the fourth guy here Steve Burchell, the other guitarist in the band, and you’re from England, right?
Steve: Yeah, that’s right, from Leicestershire, and I’ve been over here about two years.
AAM: So okay, our first question about the band is: What’s a “ZänKoma”?
Adam: ZänKoma first comes from “zen,” which is from the Chinese “ch’an,” meaning “quietude,” and we took that definition and made it “zen in a coma” and we just used different spellings for both “zen” and “coma” and came up with “ZänKoma,” and we used the German ä, with the umlaut, to look heavier, more rock-and-roll...
AAM: Like Blue Öyster Cult, Mötley Crüe, and Mötorhead -- also names that don't really need the dots over the letters...
Adam: Yeah, but it kind of fits, going with my German heritage, and then mis-spelling “coma” with a “k,” also going with the German feel...
AAM: Now -- When we saw the show, we didn't know who you were, yet you received second billing, right behind L.A. Guns. Even coming early to the venue, we were pleased to see that there was such a good turnout, and it was a good, lively gig. Then, we were leaving the Whisky, and right there on the sidewalk we met Cris, with cards and stickers and stuff, showing a good hustle, making sure folks knew who you were, and it looks like this is paying off. That’s really enterprising of you, Cris, especially since you're not the band’s first bassist, true?
Cristian: Yeah, I’m the second bassist. You see, Skeeter and I, we played together in this other band called Vicious Licks, and during that time we played a lot of shows with ZänKoma, on the Strip, down in Long Beach, all over, and we were buddies.
Adam: And we came to appreciate each other’s stuff.
Cristian: But I was unsatisfied in Vicious Licks, and I decided to quit the band, and during this transition, Adam called me
Adam: See, we decided to get rid of our other bass player, so when Cristian became available, it was a no-brainer. So then our drummer decided to quit, and Skeeter was available, so it worked out perfectly.
AAM: Yes, we can see that, since Steve and Adam, you two already had great guitar chemistry together, and then, when you needed two guys for the rhythm section, it was good that there was already a connection. And on that note, we heard that you guys are all beer drinkers, so do you have any favorite brand?
Skeeter: Any beer! [laughter, while hoisting a soda can]
Adam: Well, I'm partial to the German brands.
AAM: Okay, but about the rock-and-roll -- you have a sound that's up-to-date and appealing to today's audience, but there are lots of vintage roots in your sound. For instance, guitar heroes like Ted Nugent and Pat Travers could come to mind, seeing the way you guys bust loose to open up some of your songs. Now, as for you, Steve, are there any particular guitarists who inspire you most? Heck, we notice that you look a little like Slash.
Adam: Slash looks like Steve!
Steve: I like Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton, for sure
AAM: How about you, Adam?
Adam: I would definitely second Steve’s answer, and I’d add Johnny Winter. What appeals to me is a mix of country and blues with a bit of jazz thrown in, that’s what interests me overall, though all those elements don’t always make it into my playing.
AAM: So we see that the sound that you actually have, which is pretty much straight-ahead hard rock, pairs up nicely with some of the bands you've played with up until now. For instance, you did a show with “Brian Howe's Bad Company.” What is that, the latest version of this classic band?
Adam: You know, when we got that gig, I didn’t even know who the guy Brian Howe was. Apparently, there was a period, after Paul Rodgers left, when they brought in Brian for a version of Bad Company with some of the other guys but not Paul, and with Brian, they apparently did manage to sell millions of records and had a couple of semi-hits. So when we played with him, it was “Brian Howe’s Bad Company,” kind of like if you had “Pete Best’s Beatles,” ha-ha!
AAM: That’s funny, it’s kind of like how there has been more than one version of L.A Guns, with and without Tracii Guns -- and for last week’s show, it was a Tracii-free lineup. Now, at that Whisky show, we saw that you did one cover tune, a solid rendition of the Mountain classic, “Mississippi Queen.” How did you guys choose that particular blues-based hard-rock nugget, what’s the connection for Zänkoma?
Adam: Well, we’ve always liked the original Mountain version.
Steve: It just sounds like something you want to play!
Adam: Hearing “Mississippi Queen,” it’s like seeing a big, fat, juicy hamburger when you're hungry -- you just have to take a bite! Or like a beer on a hot day -- I mean, that riff is just timeless. And it just felt like a good choice to be heard in L.A., to put that onstage on the Strip -- because it’s more like an East-coast song originally, from Felix Pappalardi and Leslie West and those guys -- and yet it's also a “Southern-rock” tune that’s not “Sweet Home Alabama”! It has a cool factor, and it’s not typical "L.A.," which makes it a good choice for us, because of our international lineup.
Steve: And we also felt that it would be good to play it last.
AAM: But on a note that is very “L.A.,” there's a song you do that we will politely call “Star-F****r” and we want to know, was this song based on anybody in particular whom you know, or is it about a pastiche of people you've met?
Skeeter: It’s about a few of them!
Adam: Actually, it’s about a particular poser we know, and it kind of sums it up, about the poser-in-L.A. mentality, where if you have enough chains dangling on your designer jeans, and you have black nail polish, and you hang out at the Rainbow, then you’re a rock star.
AAM: And you referred to the Rainbow club in the song...
Adam: And we love the Rainbow, nothing against the Rainbow -- but the song just sums up a certain type of superficial local attitude, coming from people who are great at the Guitar Hero game, but not so good when it comes to playing actual music. Sometimes originality is in short supply around here, so there's a little bitterness in there.
Cristian: There are just too many people out there doing what's been done before.
AAM: Now, about some more of your own music, any listener can hear that you shred, pound, and thump as a good hard-rock band should, but we noticed that in your song “Always Nothing,” the lead-line in there has an original melody to it, as opposed to just another flurry of flying fingers or a blast of distortion. Now, fastness and effects both have their places, but for that kind of musical creativity, how did you come up with it?
Adam: Steve and I have written a lot together as a team, and now we are very fortunate and grateful to have Cristian and Skeeter in the band, they’re the best. With all that said, the songs were basically written by Steve and me, and we're a really good songwriting team, we can often go for two or three hours without saying a lot, but while playing a lot. And with “Always Nothing,” that lead shows that while Steve has this ability to know when to go absolutely crazy when necessary, he can also, on the other hand, just support what’s already there. Less is sometimes more, and Steve’s a guitar player who can really put it on thick and give you a shellacking, or he can just play a nice, simple melody and not be bothered with having to prove anything else.
Steve: And that’s how we can work, for hours on end, just going through different changes of chords.
Skeeter: It’s what the song wants -- listening to the song, each of them [Adam and Steve] has the breaks, the input.
Adam: And now we’ve been going though this all together, writing a song, the four of us. And we basically have the skeleton, and the muscles are there, and the central nervous system -- so now we’re wondering how the whole thing is going to look, what kind of “skin” is it going to have, what kind of dimensions are we going to use, is it going to be blue or red, so we keep polishing. We have this song written, but then something will happen like at rehearsal the other day, when Cristian said, “Hey, how about a chorus that's in a different key?” So we just said, okay, screw the first chorus we had, let’s do another one! So that’s how those things happen, by allowing yourselves to not be rushed, to take our time, and if a song takes two or three months to finish, so be it.
Steve: And it’s like Adam said, it’s like we’re all trying to “visualize” the song, it’s kind of like painting. When we all have the same feelings, it’s good.
AAM: That’s great! So now, seeing as you have already put out a three-song EP, “Rock-’n’-Roll by Volume,” what we want to know now is how soon we can expect to see a full-length disk from ZänKoma?
Adam: As soon as the economy improves! [laughter] When we’re out of Iraq, you’ll have a CD, and we really hope for both to happen quick!
AAM: Are you signed to a label?
Adam: No, we’re unsigned as of now, and no endorsements, not yet. We did this little CD ourselves, and we’re definitely overdue for a full-length disk.
AAM: But at least you’re getting out there and playing as much as you can. Tell us about your coming shows.
Adam: We’re playing the Whisky again on February 21st (and ACIDIC will be there as well). And on March 26th we'll be playing with Frank Hannon of Tesla, also at the Whisky.
AAM: So Adam, you came all the way from Germany, and where do you live now?
Adam: In the Valley, I'm a “Valley Boy” now, in Studio City!
AAM: How about you, Steve?
Steve: Sherman Oaks.
Cristian: Skeeter and me, we’re in Hollywood.
Skeeter: Right off of Sunset.
Cristian: We live together, we play together, we’re like brothers!
AAM: Skeeter, tell us please about your favorite drumming inspirations.
Skeeter: Well, Cozy Powell for sure, and Ian Paiste from Deep Purple -- but I also have looked into this guy named Fred Below, who was on a lot of sessions with the Chess blues label, with Muddy Waters and guys like that – it’s very simple and solid. And let’s not forget Ginger Baker.
AAM: And who are your bass heroes, Cristian?
Cristian: Jack Bruce, and Roger Glover, and I like Glenn Hughes a lot, too. I listen to blues and jazz a lot, because my dad is a jazz piano player.
AAM: So you grew up with music
Steve: I think we all grew up with it.
Adam: Yeah, my father’s a Hungarian gypsy, a professional. Gypsies, often they have to earn their living by the violin, because there’s nothing else they can do, because of anti-gypsy prejudice. I’ve never seen anybody play as many instruments as my dad -- he plays the trumpet, the guitar -- and he plays all kinds of folk music, Bavarian and Hungarian, so much that it can be confusing! But that has opened my mind to realize that it’s all music, and a good song is a good song, regardless of the genre. A good song speaks to you, and helps you to express yourself. It could be country, or pop, or metal...
Skeeter: It’s got to be good.
AAM: Now gentlemen, before this interview, we heard that a couple of you had to work late, so of course we’re glad you could all finally make it. May we ask, starting with you, Steve, just what it is you do to keep gas in the tank and batteries in the power-pack?
Steve: My “day job”? Full-time on MySpace promoting ZänKoma!
Skeeter: He works for the band, and he shreds at it! He sells all our tickets for us…
Steve: Yeah, we have about 16,000 friends or so on MySpace.
Adam: Thanks to Steve!
AAM: Yes, we were impressed by that as well, that’s a real grassroots fanbase, for sure. What about you, Adam, do you have a day gig?
Adam: Yeah, I build guitar pedals, I contract out for a company, so I’m fortunate in that way, I can just stay home and deal with guitars and pedals, building and soldering them – but that’s gonna change soon, because you’re going to write about us, and we’ll be on tour soon!
Cristian: Me, I do construction, and I just put together a new business, involving marketing and supplies…
Skeeter: I work at Amoeba Music, dealing with music and listening to music all the time – so I keep building up my collection!
AAM: Now, in closing, we are very much looking forward to what you guys will come up with next, and before you go, here’s one thing we often like to ask, which can relate to anybody else in similar shoes. Here you are, with a tight band and a big sound, and you’re hitting the local stages, and you’re promoting yourselves, and you’re still in the “pushing it” process. So – do you have any feedback or advice for other aspiring acts?
Adam: Yes, I have advice - do the exact opposite of what you're told!
AAM: That’s a suitably rebellious, rock-&-roll kind of way to conclude our conversation! Thank you, Adam, Steve, Cristian, and Skeeter. Keep up the good work, and we’ll see you soon, on the Strip, on the road, on the charts!
Check out the band at: www.myspace.com/zankoma.
